Jade Alastair
Jade Alastair is an assassin with a no-nonsense attitude and a powerful ability. History Born into a life of sin and debauchery, Jade was hardly brought up in a normal way. The second child of Allison and Dean Alastair, she was raised amongst thieves and cutthroats that seemed all too ready to draw blood if it suited them. Allison did all she could to protect her two daughters from the life she had somehow found herself in, but it wasn't easy when the man she had fallen in love with was their leader. It was an old fashioned crime ring with big Dean-o Alastair in control, dealing in anything from drugs to prostitutes to hired killings. Nothing was too low for the dirty rat of a man. The fact that such a man actually had a family was an odd thing, especially to the men in his ring, but Dean had to keep up some pretenses. That was all his 'family' really was, a cover to keep cops from sniffing around where they weren't wanted. Jade didn't remember much about her mother because when she was old enough, her father would take her and her older sister Sasha to the warehouse he owned, the place where most of his dealings took place. What had started out as a cover family had turned into an opportunity to add two very young members to his 'prestigious' gang of thugs, seeking to teach them the ropes. They had his blood running through their veins after all, why shouldn't they be like him? Jade's mother was forgotten, never allowed to see her daughters again. Jade couldn't really recall what age she saw her first killing, she figured it was about nine or ten years old, young enough to be horrified but old enough to know better than to say anything to anyone. She enjoyed living after all and her father wasn't one to screw with. She didn't even remember what it had been over, all she remembered was one of the men being stabbed in the throat. Gods... so much blood, there had been so much. The look of glassy eyes watching her haunted her for years after that. Growing into her teen years, Jade grew accustomed to the life her father had forced upon herself and her sister Sasha. Killings, drug dealings, they were all routine stuff anymore and the two sisters readily got involved knowing full well the punishment that would follow if they didn't. Their father was a ruthless man, feared for his thirst for blood and power, he was an unpredictable man that would stop at nothing to get just what he wanted. There was one thing he never forced on his daughters and that was prostitution. Quite the opposite really, he never allowed any man near his two daughters, not even if Sasha or Jade were interested. He would often tell them that men were mere distractions for them and if he caught either one of them with a man, he'd torture him right in front of them before killing him. Big Dean-o had spoken... Sasha was a brilliant young woman, had a sharp mind and was hard to match when it came to wit and business. Dean was proud of how his daughter was able to keep track of things for him while Jade was more of a brute than anything. Both excelled at their chosen paths, Sasha the brain and Jade the brawn. When put together, they were near unstoppable. Unlike Sasha who hated her life with her father and his thugs, Jade didn't mind it all that much. She appreciated learning the hard lessons in life first hand rather then having a sugar coated life, that wasn't her. Taking the life of a brute and fighter, Jade was trained in various martial arts, nothing too intense because her father was no master and neither was any of his men. When Jade met the limits of what her father could teach her, she sought other teachers, different dojos and gyms that offered fighting of any type. She thirsted for power of the body more than anything, it made her feel powerful, in control. Sasha was the first to develop powers, it was a shock to both sisters when Sasha accidentally set a sheet on fire when they were talking. Neither understood what had happened as they both beat the flames out. Jade suffered burns from the fire while Sasha had suffered nothing. It was the oddest thing but both did well to hide it from their father. Sasha wasn't about to give their father yet another reason to use them. Despite Sasha being the elder sister, Jade was exceptionally protective and Sasha, since she was all the poor girl had in this life. Any of her father's thugs that leered at the pretty blond girl were often found beaten to a pulp later on, not killed but beaten pretty damn badly. Jade was like her father in a way, believing violence was always the way to go. For a year, both sisters were able to hide Sasha's ability from their father, but it couldn't last forever and the secret was discovered. Jade had never felt such a beating as she had when her father realized they had been keeping something from him, something that would benefit him in the long run. He had a fire-starter daughter, a girl who could generate and manipulate flames with her bare hands and her mind, how great was that! Jade had nearly ended up in the hospital due to trying to take on all the thugs to keep her father from taking her sister away from her. There had been nthumb|300px|righto reason for him to do it, Sasha was already working for him, yet he wanted to hurt them both, punish them for going behind his back. So he separated the two sisters, threatening death to each sister if they tried to disobey him. Fearing for each other's safety rather than their own, they obeyed Dean and did not see each other. That was when the somewhat warm Jade that would laugh every so often died, a cold bitter angry Jade taking her place. Still working for Big Dean-o, Jade did contract killings and various other jobs, learning how to use a gun in the process. Gun knowledge was necessary considering one could be the best fighter in the world and still be killed by a gun, it was better to be prepared. She learned how to use various guns, not wanting to stick to just one kind. Her favorite gun was a berretta, such beautiful music they made when they fired. Jade continued to work for her father because she feared him, was scared that if she left, he'd kill Sasha and she couldn't have that. She loved her sister too much to be the reason for her demise. It was around eighteen that Jade came into her own power, yet another shocker. She had always believed that Sasha was the special one because of her mind, but it seemed that it was in their blood. It had been on a contract killing that had gone wrong, she had missed her target and shot the wrong man. A nicely aimed bullet to the temple when he turned, but in the darkness he had the same features as the man she was sent to kill. Once she realized what had happened, she was nearly tackled by the real target's bodyguards. Some casino owner or something like that, a rival of her father;s. Figured he had bodyguards. Jade had just barely gotten away, running down an alley when she came to dead end. God she hated alleys, why was there always a dead end somewhere and why did she find it?! Huddled in the corner, she closed her eyes and waited, pretending that she wasn't there, somehow hoping that they wouldn't turn down the alleyway and see her. It seemed her powers had kicked in at just the right time. Two bodyguards appeared, angry and guns drawn, looking around for her. They even looked right at her and then passed over her, as though they didn't even see her. Was she invisible? What had been a mere illusion of an empty alley confused Jade into believing that she had somehow made herself invisible. It wasn't until later that Jade began to play with and test her power, it was not invisibility but the ability to project illusions around herself and the area around her. It was weak to start of course but the more she practiced, the better she got and the better control she gained as well. She started out with little things, an illusion around herself and she used it for the best thing, seeing her sister. Of course, being in Vegas, Jade was able to gamble and create the illusion that she won every time, with dice anyway. She only ever stuck with dice games. Winning money was always a good feeling and she found that the power of illusion, while it couldn't kill, was a brilliant distraction on those she wanted to kill. Especially if she studied people, she could get into their heads, make them see what they wanted to see, hear what they wanted to hear. Dean never knew about his other daughter's ability, only focusing on the girl that could set a man on fire if he crossed her father, that was the ability he liked. Never did anyone imagine that a rival of Dean-o would choose to set his warehouse on fire while everyone was asleep, closing off every exit. Jade had been out on a hunt when this had happened, but she'd never forget the pain she felt when she watched the fire trucks race towards the warehouse, the flames shooting up into the sky. Her heart broke not for Dean but for Sasha would had been inside. Jade shouldn't have left her, should have made her move in getting Sasha out, but she always thought she had another day, always another day. No survivors had been found in the warehouse burning, her father's operation had been brought to a screeching halt all because of fire. Play with fire and you get burned.... With her father and Sasha gone, Jade did what she could, she became a rogue assassin and bounty hunter, doing what she did best. She never allowed her many various employers to see the same guise twice, she was a woman of a million faces and she was good at what she did. Ability Illusion the ability to create and project illusions around her. When it had first showed itself in Jade's youth, it had simply been to project images around herself, a weak ability that would fail at times if the person knew what she could do. But as she got older and she got stronger and more control, she was able to find that she could project the illusions into the mind of others, causing them to believe the illusions were real, even if there were inconsistencies and improbabilities. She can change her appearance with just a thought, not a form of shape-shifting since her body doesn't actually change with the illusion. Her illusions are unable to solidify and they aren't able to hurt anyone. Limits Although Jade has a good hold on this power, it still has some pitfalls. For one, Jade feels immense strain when projecting various illusions on different minds and after a while she can't hold them. A nosebleed often occurs as a sign of the strain and she has to rest or she'll black out. Once Jade is knocked out or severely injured, her illusions fade since she can't focus. Her illusions are unable to harm others and are meant as distractions or disguises. Personality Jade is not an easy young woman to get to know, she is cold and bitter and chooses to keep everyone around her at a distance. Born in a family of thieves and killers, Jade learned quickly that there is no honor among thieves and you can't trust anyone, that's the rule she lives by. Stubborn right down to the letter, Jade will stand her ground in any fight she finds herself in, whether she started it or not, it's not in her to back down from any sort of fight whether the odds are against her or not. Seemingly emotionless, Jade has learned to suppress her emotions to the point of being almost completely numb, since emotions were messy things that only got in the way of her work. There is little that Jade takes joy in, her job being one of the few. An assassin for hire and sometimes bounty-hunter, Jade makes a living out of hunting and killing people. There have been times she has worked with police to catch a criminal and other times she has killed innocent people because someone with a lot of money paid her to do it. She didn't really mind either way, it wasn't about good and evil, right and wrong, it was about money in her pocket. Her father had once told her to do what she loved best and that was the spilling of another's blood. Any thoughts on guilt and regret were often passed to the side, the faces of her past victims only touching on the surface of her mind when she slept, since that's when she was most vulnerable. Jade isn't the easiest person to get angry because she doesn't let people find buttons in order to push them with her. But when she is angry, her temper flares and she usually resorts to violence to solve the problem. Her motto happens to be 'shoot first, shoot some more and when everyone's dead try and ask some questions.' Killing means never having to say you're sorry after all... Due to the training Jade has been put through over the years, she has a high pain threshold and a knowledge of where the best spots are to strike on a body, since she's been used as a punching bag often enough. While Jade doesn't trust anyone, she has a high respect for those who are strong in a physical and emotional way, cowards disgust her thoroughly. Cool and confident in a fight, Jade often takes the offensive aggressively. Due to her power, Jade feels at times that she is invincible and this is one of her various flaws in personality. Arrogant, she often views a fight with her as the winner before it's even fought, underestimating her targets. She is reckless and headstrong, always believed she can handle a job even if the odds are piled against her. It's actually amazing she is still alive considering all she has gotten into in the past. Being special isn't all that special to Jade, she has a power and she uses it, that's about it. She doesn't seek out others like herself unless hired to do so, mostly cause she has no curiosity about others like her. She knows they exist but they don't really matter to her, all she needs to know is what their ability is and what their weaknesses are, she could handle the rest herself. She didn't need to know anything else. While Jade is intelligent in terms of fighting and such, she can hardly be seen as a strategist of any kind. She moves on pure instinct and doesn't often think things through. She is a brute to say the least, incapable or perhaps uninterested in exploring deeper thoughts and the finer things in life. She holds allegiance to no one and would easily stab another in the back if she felt it would benefit herself. Being a perfectionist, Jade is terribly hard on herself if she fails a task or some sort of training. Failure is never an option and she will push herself to the points of near death if it means she can master something. Category:Characters Category:Neutral Category:Elite Category:The Elite